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 PATRIMONY

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PATRIZI

his people would be gathered into heaven as would cover the land and sea as far as his vision could reach. Far more ample, however, were the aspirations of the saint, and he resolved to persevere in fasting and prayer until the fullest measure of his petition was granted. Again and again the angel came to comfort him, announcing new concessions; but all these would not suffice. He would not relinquish his post on tlie mountain, or relax his penante, until all were granted. At length the message came that his prayers were heard: (1) many souls would be freed from the pains of purgatory through his intercession;

(2) whoever in a spirit of penance would recite his hymn before death would attain the heavenlj' reward;

(3) barbarian hordes would never obtain sway in his Church; (4) seven years before the Judgment Day, the sea would spread over Ireland to save its people from the temptations and terrors of Antichrist; and (5) greatest blessing of all, Patrick himself would be deputed to judge the whole Irish race on the last day. Such were the extraordinary favours which St. Pat- rick, with his wrestling with the Most High, his un- ceasing prayers, his unconquerable love of heavenly things, and his unremitting penitential deeds, ob- tained for the people whom he evangelized.

It is sometimes supposed that St. Patrick's aposto- late in Ireland was an unbroken series of peaceful triumphs, and yet it was quite the reverse. No storm of persecution was, indeed stirred up to assail the in- fant Church, but the saint himself was subjected to frequent trials at the hands of the druids and of other enemies of the Faith. He tells us in his "Confessio" that no fewer than twelve times he and his companions were seized and carried off as captives, and on one occasion in particular he was loaded with chains, and his death was decreed. But from all these trials and sufferings he was liberated by a benign Providence. It is on account of the many hardships which he en- dured for the Faith that, in some of the ancient Mar- tyrologies, he is honoured as a martyr. St. Patrick, having now completed his triumph over Paganism, and gathered Ireland into the fold of Christ, prepared for the summons to his reward. St. Brigid came to him with her chosen virgins, bringing the shroud in which he would be enshrined. It is recorded that when St. Patrick and St. Brigid were united in their last prayer, a special vision was shown to him. He saw the whole of Ireland lit up with the brightest rays of Divine Faith. This continued for centuries, and then clouds gathered around the devoted island, and, little by little, the religious glory faded away, until, in the course of centuries, it was only in remotest valleys that some glimmer of its light remained. St. Patrick prayed that that light would never be extin- guished, and, as he prayed, the angel came to him and said: "Fear not; your apostolate shall never cease." As he thus prayed, the glimmering light grew in bright- ness, and ceased not until once more all the hills and valleys of Ireland were lit up in their pristine splen- dour, and then the angel announced to St. Patrick: "Such shall be the abiding splendour of Divine truth in Ireland." At Saul (Sabhall), St. Patrick received the summons to his reward on 17 March, 493. St. Tassach administered the last sacraments to him. His remains were wrapped in the shroud woven by St. Brigid's own hands. The bishops and clergy and faithful people from all parts crowded around his re- mains to pay due honour to the Father of their I^aith. Some of the ancient Lives record that for several days the light of heaven shone around his bier. His re- mains were interred at the chieftain's Dun or Fort two miles from Saul, where in after times arose the cathe- dral of Down.

Writings of St. Patrick. — The "Confessio" and the "Epistola ad Coroticum" are recognized by all modern critical writers as of unquestionable genuine- ness. The best edition, with text, translation, and

critical notes, is by Rev. Dr. White for the Royal Irish Academy, in 1905. The 34 canons of a synod held before the year 460 by St. Patrick, Auxilius, and Isserninus, though rejected by Todd and Haddan, have been placed by Professor Bury beyond the reach of controversy. Another series of 31 ecclesiastical canons entitled "Synodus secunda Patritii", though unquestionably of Irish origin and dating before the close of the seventh century, is generally considered to be of a later date than St. Patrick. Two tracts (in P. L., LIII), entitled "De abusionibus saecuU", and "De tribus habitaculis", were composed by St. Patrick in Irish and translated into Latin at a later period. Passages from them are assigned to St. Patrick in the "CoUectio Hibernensis Canonum", which is of unquestionable authority and dates from the year 700 (Wasserschleben, 2nd ed., 1885). This "Collectio Hibernensis" also assigns to St. Patrick the famous sy nodical decree: "Si qua quaestiones in hac insula oriantur, ad Sedem Apostolieam referantur." (If any difficulties arise in this island, let them be re- ferred to the Apostolic See). The beautiful prayer, known as "I^aeth Fiada", or the "Lorica of St. Patrick" (St. Patrick's Breast-Plate), first edited by Petrie in his "History of Tara", is now universally accepted as genuine. The " Dicta Sancti Patritii ", or brief sayings of the'saint, preserved in the "Book of Armagh", are accurately edited by Fr. Hogan, S.J., in "Documenta de S. Patritio" (Brussels, 1884). The old Irish text of "The Rule of Patrick" has been edited by O'Keeffe, and the translation by Archbishop Healy in the appendix to his Life of St. Patrick (Dub- lin, 1905). It is a tract of venerable antiquity, and embodies the teaching of the saint.

The Trias thaumaturga (fol., Louvain. 1647) of the Franciscan CoLGAN is the most complete collection of the ancient Lives of the saint. The Kenmare Life of SI. Patrick (Cusack, Dublin. 1S69) presents from the pen of Hennessy the translation of the Irish Tripartite Life, with copious notes. Whitley Stokes, in the Rolls Series (London, 1887), has given the text and translation of the Vita Tripartita, together witfi many original documents from the Book of Armagh and other sources. The most noteworthy works of later vears are Shearman. Loca Patriciana (Dublin, 1870); Todd, St. Patrick, Apostle of Ireland (Dublin, 1864); BiiHY, Life of St. Patrick (London, 1905) ; Healy, The Life and Writings of St. Patrick (Dublin, 1905).

Patrick Francis Cardinal Mcean.

Patrimony of Saint Peter. See States of the Church.

Patripassians. See Monarchians.

Patristics. See Fathers of the Church; Pa-

TROLOGY.

Patrizi, Francis Xavier, Jesuit exegete, b. at Rome, 19 June, 1797; d. there 23 April, 1881. He was the eldest son and heir of the Roman Count Patrizi, entered the Society of Jesus 12 Nov., 1814, was ordained priest in 1824, and soon became professor of Sacred Scripture and Hebrew in the Roman College. The revolution of 1848 caused Patrizi and his fellow professor Perrone to take refuge in England. Here, and afterwards at Louvain, Patrizi taught Scripture to the Jesuit scholastics. When peace was restored at Rome, he again began to lecture in the Roman College. The revolution of 1870 ended his career as a teacher, and he found a home in the German-Hungarian College of Rome, remaining there till death.

He wrote twenty-one Biblical and ascetical works. Of the former the most important are: "De interpre- tationescripturarum sacrarum" (2 vols., Rome, 1844); " De consensu utriusque libri Machaba;orum" (Rome, 18.56); "DeEvangeliis" (3 vols., Freiburg im BreLsgau, 1853); "In Joannem commentarium" (Rome, 18.57); "In Marcum commentarium" (Rome, 1862); "In actus Apostolorum commentarium" (Rome, 1867); "Cento salmi tradotti letteralmente dal testo ebraico e commentati" (Rome, 1875); " De interpretatione oraculorum ad Christum pertinentium " (Rome, 1853) ; "De immaculata Marise origine" (Rome, 1853);